Studying
by butterfly10
Summary: Ranma needs to improve his grades and Akane offers to help. Having some time alone, away from everybody, they learn more than just Maths... COMPLETE
1. Studying

Hi everybody! I had another story here so I decided to post this one too. Again, forgive my grammar mistakes – or rather, make me aware of them in your reviews if you have the time – and don't sue me because I know I don't own these characters and I have no intention of claiming so. I also make no money with this – heck, how could I? ;) I'll be happy to receive reviews even if you say it sucks. Now, enjoy the story.

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Studying

Chapter 1

"Would you like me to help you?" Akane asked with a smile.

Ranma would have done anything to see that smile more often. But somehow he wasn't prepared to let her know that.

"Nah! You know I don't care about school and stuff. What good is it to Martial Arts anyway? I mean…" he repeated his usual response. "And besides I don't need the help of a clumsy tomboy like you!"

'He had to say that, didn't he?' Akane thought, her anger rising. He was Ranma Saotome, the great martial artist, the invincible one, the one that never needed any help. The one that wouldn't pass his classes if he didn't improve his grades quickly.

"Why do you always have to be such a jerk? Fine, I don't care," she yelled, "I'm sorry I've been worrying about you being held up all summer with extra classes! See if I care any more!" She turned, her face red with emotion, and stomped away. The jerk! Why did she even bother being nice to him? He never appreciated it anyway.

She was worried about him? Spend the summer studying? Her words kicked in a few seconds after she had uttered them. Now he was looking at her back. Images of the upcoming summer flashed in his mind: the Tendos and his father would go to a beach resort and he would be left behind, and perhaps Akane would have to stay at home too, knowing his father and Mr Tendo… Well, not that he really minded spending time with that tomboy of a fiancée he had, at least he could have a nice workout from time to time… But being alone with her would imply having to eat her cooking… His stomach protested at the thought.

"Uhmmm… Akane?" he said sheepishly. All those thoughts had gone through his head so quickly that she had barely made three or four steps.

"What?" she snapped.

"I… sorta… uhmmm… changed my mind…" She turned, still glaring at him, while he stammered on. "I guess it would be better… to study now … rather than in summer…"

"Oh, yeah? Well, I changed my mind too. Why would I want to waste my time on you? You never take studying seriously anyway. All you do is call me names and fool around." Akane was still too angry to accept his change of mind, and when she looked at him he became a little nervous, expecting her mallet to appear any time.

"Oh, come on, don't be mad!" he pleaded, his blue eyes saying what he could not word aloud, asking for forgiveness and for help. Two things he seldom could do aloud…

Akane read something in those deep blue-black eyes and calmed down a bit. She was ready to listen to him now.

"Why should I do it?" she asked, challenging him to convince her.

He never refused a challenge. And he always found a way to win it.

"Because you know I won't be able to do it by myself", he said, a little grin on his face, knowing she would give in, "We both know that you're better at this school stuff… I mean… I could be better that you if I cared but…"

"Exactly! You could be better if you cared enough, but you don't", she said. "Let's get something straight: I'm willing to do it if you promise you'll pay as much attention to studying as you do to your martial arts training."

"Take it as training, you mean?" He thought about it. "Ok, I can do that," he smiled, knowing he had won, and her heart skipped a beat. Damn him, she thought.

"When do we start?" he added.

"How about… now?"

"Now? Uhmmm… I thought I'd go practice…" he started, but hearing Akane sigh vehemently, he continued, "… but… I guess now is as good a time as any".

Akane smiled, a bit surprised, and Ranma felt warm inside. She really was cute when she smiled. He should learn to make her smile more often.

They headed for Akane's room.

"We're going to be studying this afternoon. Please don't distrub us!" Akane shouted to the rest of the Tendo household, guests included, in a tone no one dared to answer.

"So what is your problem exactly?" Akane asked when they were in her room.

"There's no problem! It's just that … those formulas are so… boring… useless…" Ranma looked frustrated. He sat on a chair near Akane's desk.

The girl noticed that he chose the seat furthest from the desk, as if trying to avoid what he had to do.

"Move over there, you can't write from here," she suggested, acting as nonchalantly as she could. She knew he hated being told what to do.

"Oh? Yeah, right." He reluctantly moved.

In the mean time, Akane thought that she would have better avoided mentioning help or problems or similar words in the future. He seemed to be allergic to those words, he always reacted defensively, stating his strength and the fact that he did not need any help at all. She smiled inwardly. She'd learn. He was much too important to her not to try and understand him as much as she could. Besides, this studying thing allowed her to be alone with him, without the usual gang interfering. She loved that. She just hoped he wouldn't have said something stupid or insulting, resulting in her malletting him into the orbit…

They settled to work. As he had promised, he did his best in focusing to the task at hand and thus managed eventually to solve some quite difficult physics problems.

"Well, I'm impressed", Akane praised him. "Those were tough ones and you did very well."

"I did? Great! Now what's next?" He was pleased with himself and wanted to go on (and over) with it as soon as possible.

"Wait a sec. I just need to change into some shorts, I'm kind of hot in here. Could you open the window, by the way?" Akane said, raising from her chair and moving to her closet.

Ranma went to open the window.

"Now, are you going out of the room or can I trust you being a gentleman and not looking at me while I change?" she asked after she found the shorts. She felt a bit self-conscious.

"I'll just… look this way, ok?" he said, looking through the open window, embarrassed at the idea of Akane changing in the same room.

"And don't peep!" she added cheerfully.

He heard the sound of her pants falling to the floor and he blushed imagining her naked legs. An early image of a bathroom came back to him, but he tried to focus on the koi pond outside the window. He heard her ruffle and then put on the garment she had chosen.

"Done. Oooooh… I feel much better", she chirped and he turned around. His blush returned. Her legs were almost as naked as in his vision, the shorts were really … short!

Akane didn't notice anything though. "Aren't you hot in that Chinese shirt of yours?" she asked.

He was dressed in his usual black pants and a green sleeved shirt. 

"No, not really…", he said, but then felt the sweat on his forehead. He knew it had nothing to do with the outside temperature but he still felt like adding: "… or rather… I am a bit hot…"

So he pulled his shirt off and a white tank top appeared underneath. As well as his well-toned muscular figure, which was usually concealed by his loose fitting clothes.

Akane almost gasped. She hurried to her spot, not daring to look at him as she knew she had to be as red as a beetroot already.

"Uhmmm… where were we?" Ranma asked, sneaking a glance at his fiancée and noticing for the first time that her T-shirt was tighter that the ones she usually wore. A lot tighter. He looked away, blushing again. 

Akane was trying to concentrate too.

"We had finished with physics, now we have geometry, I guess."

"Ok."

They both did their best to stay focused at what they were doing but every now and then Ranma would glance at Akane's legs or T-shirt-clad torso, while Akane would get distracted by the smoothness of his skin or the strength radiating through his muscles.

They came to a very complicated drawing exercise and Ranma could not figure out how to do it.

"Look, " Akane said finally, raising from her chair and moving behind him, "you have to check these points and…" She leaned forward and took his hand in hers to show him how to draw the line. Of course, in doing so, she pressed her chest against his shoulders. In order to see what she was doing, she also moved her head closer to his. "You have to draw a curve…"she continued, but stopped in mid sentence.

Suddenly Ranma was only aware of a body – her body – pressing against his shoulders, of her hand on his arm, of her voice near his ear, the smell of fruit shampoo in his nostrils. What little concentration he had was gone.

Akane felt him tense up and also became aware of her position. She shut up and looked at his face. He gazed at her lips, only inches from his. They froze. For the longest moment neither of them dared to move nor even breathe, both lost in each other's eyes. Then Akane let out a small breath and Ranma felt the moist warm air on his lips. He shivered. She noticed it and shivered herself. Were they going to…?

Suddenly she snapped out of her reverie and moved quickly a couple of steps away. Ranma didn't move. He positively didn't know what to do, and he was still quite caught in the moment.

After a few moments Akane said in what she hoped was a cheerful, nonchalant tone: "How about a little break? I'll go and get some juice, it's hot here, isn't it?"

She didn't wait for an answer – nor would she have got one for that matter – she just rushed out of her room and closed the door behind her, pausing finally leaning on the wall to regain her senses completely. 

What had just happened? Nothing, actually, right? She just felt so strange, so self-conscious, so much a … woman… when she got that close to him. Like a couple of times before. She thought they would kiss. She panicked, of course. As much as she wanted it, she was afraid of it as well. And he just sat there, not moving, maybe not even noticing anything strange… What a fool she was! Imagining things, for sure… She had better got that fresh juice and put extra ice in it, just to cool her raging hormones… 

She walked down the stairs, just in time to see Kasumi coming up with a tray full of goodies: cookies, juice… but no ice. 

"Hi Akane, I thought you two might be a little thirsty or hungry studying so hard", Kasumi smiled sweetly.

"Oh, thank you. I was just going down to get something myself," Akane smiled back, but quickly added, eyeing the tray: "You know, I'm so hot I think I'll go down and check if there is any ice. Could you take these to my room, please?"

"Sure. There should be some ice left, just put it in a bowl and bring it up here. Is Ranma in your room?" the older sister asked.

"Yes. Please, prevent him from vacuuming all the cookies before I get back!" Akane winked and ran down. Kasumi just smiled as she knocked on the duck-tagged door.

"Ranma, can I come in?" she asked, politely.

"Sure." The boy got up and rushed to the door, recognising Kasumi's voice. He had regained his senses in the mean time and had been wondering what had really happened. Now he was a bit confused again. Where did Akane go? What was her sister doing here? he wondered.

When he opened the door, he saw the tray in Kasumi's hand and his expression lit up. Kasumi smiled and took the tray to Akane's desk.

"Uhmmm… where is Akane, by the way?" he remembered. 

"She just went to get some ice. She sad she was feeling hot."

"Oh, ok."

"She asked if you could wait for her before you start eating the cookies," Kasumi said lightly, and Ranma's hand stopped mid air on its way to the full plate. He looked at Kasumi and decided to do as she said. He could never say no to her.

A moment later, Akane entered the room with a small bowl fool of ice.

"Here I am. I see you haven't started with the cookies yet, thanks!" she smiled to him, placing the bowl on her desk and putting some ice in a glass with a spoon.

"Would you like some ice too?" she asked him.

"Yeah, thanks", he said. He needed to cool down a bit, that was certain.

"Well, I guess I'll live you too alone. I'll call you when dinner's ready, but it won't be for a couple of hours or so." Kasumi said, leaving the room and waving a hand to them. Did she really wink or was it just Akane's imagination? It had been so quick she wasn't sure. So she dismissed it – after all, that was Kasumi, right?

She poured the juice in both glasses and handed one to Ranma. Their fingers touched in the process and they both blushed slightly. No one said anything for a while, they just drank and ate the cookies. Akane had two, Ranma practically inhaled the rest.

Akane laughed. "How can you eat like that? I mean, we've had lunch an hour ago!"

"I'm still in the growing age, and besides, I don't have to watch my weight like a certain tomboy I know," he teased, his mouth faster than his brain, as usual. Why did he say that? He didn't want to start an argument right now…

But Akane didn't respond her usual way: she didn't mallet him to Mars right away. She looked down at herself, her long smooth legs, her flat stomach and her round breasts, and then she looked at him.

"Well, I guess not, boys don't mind their figure as much as …. girls …. do!" As she spoke she picked the bowl, now containing just some water from the melting ice and splashed Ranma with its contents.

"Hey, why did you do that for?" he protested, shaking his wet red hair. "It's really cold!"

"You deserved it. Now let's go back to geometry," she said defiantly and sat down. He – or rather _she_ – growled but sat at the desk without a word. 

'This is good', Akane thought. 'Now he's a girl and everything will be fine.'

'This is not bad', Ranma thought. 'Now I'm a girl and it'll be ok.'

They returned to the previous exercise.

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	2. Studying each other?

Hi everybody! Thanks for the nice reviews and sorry for having to wait for the next chapter. I have been thinking if I want to continue my other fic (Of loose gi's and lost focuses) and couldn't decide, so I wrote this chapter below. Hope you like it, please review and let me know what you think. Reviews brighten my days, really! Even the not-so-nice ones.

Some answers (you can skip them, unless you see your name there):

Tamphis: I guess what you'll read before answers your question. I can't say how the chapters will be divided because I haven't written them yet, the story just decides for itself.

Erie Maxwell: Gosh, I guess you did read that part carefully. I decided to accept your interpretation and leave it like that. I like it too, although I admit it was actually a typo ;)

Now, on with it. And please remember to review and keep me inspired!!!

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Studying – Chapter II

Studying each other?

'Well, it really has been kinda nice, this afternoon', Ranma thought sitting on the roof, that same evening. 

'No chaos, no fiancées, no Ryoga, no Kuno, no nobody… Not even a fight with the tomboy… Just plain peaceful… I kinda liked it, could get used to it. Even the studying part wasn't so bad with that kawaii… Oops!' he mentally kicked himself for forgetting to add the 'kune' to his usual insult. 

An image of a smiling Akane in her tight T-shirt and shorts came to his mind. 

"Kawaiikune… yeah, right…" he mumbled. If she knew he was thinking about her that way, she'd mallet him to downtown Tokyo by the time he said 'what'…

Still he could not get rid of the image. Having her so close had made him feel so… He couldn't explain it, not even to himself: the sudden urge to get closer, to touch her, smell her, feel her even more… 

"Man, I've got it bad…" he mumbled again.

All the fight he put into it, all the names he called her, all the times he made fun of her cooking, her martial arts… Who was he trying to fool? He'd tried to convince himself he was saying the truth… nothing helped him against falling for her completely.

He would never admit that to anyone, of course. He could barely manage to admit it to himself. At times he still tried to deny it. It was easier to deny it than to deal with all the problems he had already thought about a hundred times before: the other girls would put up a fight, chasing Akane, trying to kill her (god, he could never allow that!), their parents would just never stop gloating at their victory (he just couldn't resign to giving in to their pressuring), Ryoga would probably show up shouting 'Ranma, prepare to die!' once again and afterwards he'd sneak in Akane's room as P-chan ('How couldn't she get it, I mean, after all the hints and everything…?'), Kuno would call him a sorcerer and would try to 'free' Akane and the 'pig-tailed goddess' again… 

Heck, Kuno at least wasn't a real problem… The fiancées were though. Cologne was. Happosai was (he still couldn't forget the stolen water of drowned man!). Their nagging parents were. And, of course, Akane was.

How did she feel about this? About him…?

He knew he would never dare ask. Never dare face the disappointment if she…

He sighed. His head ached slightly. He couldn't solve anything right then and there, so he forced himself to stop thinking about her. Maybe a little movement would help distract him. He moved towards the edge of the roof, stopping above her room without thinking. After a while he realized where he was.

'Figures', he thought bitterly. 

Her light was still on. He leaned over and hooked his feet to the edge of the roof, hanging head down as he often did. He looked inside. She was at her desk, writing something.

Sensing somebody watching her, she suddenly raised her head from her notebook and looked at the window, seeing him hang there, a strange expression on his face. She frowned for a moment, and he feared for his health, shutting his eyes and bracing himself for the pounding he knew he would get, but after the window was opened and nothing happened for a while, he carefully opened one eye and looked at her.

"What do you want, Ranma?" she asked, a strange, yet quite peaceful expression on her face.

'What, no mallet?' he thought. But he decided not to push his luck by asking.

"Uhmmm… I was… on the roof…" he stammered, trying to find something he could say that wouldn't make her mad. "… And I thought I'd thank you for your help, today…"

That seemed to surprise her. He complimented himself, checking her expression for any signs of anger.

She looked at him suspiciously, then, finding something in his eyes she was pleased with, smiled.

"You're welcome, Ranma. After all… we are fiancés, we are supposed to look after each other, right?" she said, without really thinking about what she was saying. She felt a little dazed by his presence and his unusual kindness… Then, watching his stunned expression, what she had said finally sunk in. She blushed a very intense shade of pink.

"I mean…" she hastily tried to find a way out, "… you know.. help each other out…"

Ranma was blushing too. 'She wants to look after me? Did she really mean that?' he wondered, hoping, though a part of him (the macho part of him, of course) screamed at the back of his head that he was Ranma Saotome, the great Martial Artist, he didn't need her to look after him! 

For once, he chose to ignore it and let the softer part of his self talk, if only in his mind. 'Awww… who am I trying to fool? I like the idea… She said we're fiancés…'

Finally he spoke aloud, breaking the silence and rescuing her from her embarrassment. 

"Yeah, I know…" ha said in a soft, quiet voice. "It's kinda like when I go after you when you're kidnapped or something… You're my fiancé and I'll always go after you and be there for you…" He heard his voice say that and brought his hand over his mouth. He couldn't believe he had said that. He was admitting… He shut his mouth, mentally kicking himself again, blushing a deep red.

It was her time to look puzzled.

"You will?" she asked in a small voice, almost reluctant to believe her own ears. 

"…" Ranma panicked, as usually. Then, he looked at her, her shiny eyes, her hopeful expression… She couldn't deny it when she looked at him that way.

"… Yeah", he finally said, looking away.

"You know I'll always be here for you too, don't you?" she added, quietly, as if afraid someone would hear. He turned abruptly, almost losing his balance on the roof edge. When he regained his composure again, she was a couple of steps away from the window.

"Oh, and quit hanging there like a monkey and come inside already" she said cheerfully. He humpfed at the insult, but didn't really get upset by it. She was smiling at him. He couldn't get upset at her smiling.

"Kasumi gave me some cookies before I went up", she added, pointing at her desk.

"Yummy", he laughed, eyeing them, and easily flipped inside. He headed for her desk and picked up a cookie.

"You sure you didn't make these?" he asked suspiciously, already stuffing one in his mouth. 

He realized his mistake, though, when he felt her aura blazing.

"Ranma…!" she growled.

"Hey, I was just kidding, calm down!" he said shaking his hands in front of him.

She humpfed and jerked her head away, deciding not to bash him this one time. She felt generous… and he had eaten the cookies despite the fact that he had been worried about who had made them. But she didn't want to look too forgiving, so she turned away pointedly.

Ranma thought it would be better to disappear before she changed her mind or he stuck his foot in his mouth again, so he grabbed more cookies and said sheepishly: "Well, than… Thanks again… and for the cookies too… Good night" , and before she could even finish saying good night back, he was gone.

She gazed dreamily at the window for a few seconds more, smiling to herself. After she finally closed it, she sat again at her desk, and stared at her diary. She reread what she had written down before the 'intrusion'.

__

Dear diary,

You won't believe this but we actually had a calm day! And you know just how rare that is around here… We, I mean Ranma and me… God, I'm not used to writing about him and myself as 'we'… Anyway, school was fine, nothing special happened – Kuno-bashing isn't considered special any more – except for the fact that our sensei told Ranma he'd have to take summer courses in Physics and Maths if he didn't improve his grades by a good deal very soon. So I offered him some help. 

Yeah, I did, I know it sounds strange, me offering to help him. But the strangest thing is that he accepted. 

After I almost lost my temper again, of course.

So we spent the afternoon in my room, alone, studying. I confess I kind of studied him while he studied Physics… I even changed into my shortest shorts (I never wear them, they're *that* short!) just to see how he would react and to have an excuse to make *him* take his shirt off, since it was soooo hot. I couldn't believe myself. This is Ranma, and I'm trying to make him look at me? And even steal glances at his body? What's happened to me? Akane the man-hater? Yeah, right.

But I sure made an impression. I pretended not to notice, but I could barely keep a smile from my face seeing him glance at my legs and chest. Hentai. Baka. 

Isn't that what I wanted? He's not a hentai, I know, he actually tried really hard to concentrate on studying and all. 

Yet he actually did. He took his shirt off, and I was a little disappointed seeing his tank top underneath. Still I suddenly felt so hot! I must have been red as one his red Chinese shirts! I had to calm down and really tried to concentrate on what we were doing. But it was so hard! 

It was almost ok till I had to show him that geometry exercise. He couldn't draw it properly so I got up and tried showing him bending over him, catching his hand in mine. Not that I had planned to, but I ended up leaning against his back and when I realized it, he was just turning his face toward me and he was so close… For a moment I thought we were going to kiss. 

But then I panicked. This was Ranma, after all. We fight, we call each other names. We don't kiss. 

So I came up with an excuse to leave the room and calm down.

Here she had stopped, seeing him at the window. She took her pen and started writing.

__

He just left my room. It's evening now, I'm ready for bed. I was writing here when I sensed him at the window. He came to thank me! For helping him study. And he said he would always be there for me, he'd always go after me. Well, I said it too. Did he mean it? I know tomorrow he'll say something inconsiderate and I'll end up mad and everything. But now I just feel so nice!!! He actually said something nice to me. Wonder if he's ok… ;)

I'm so excited, I can't really write any more…

I guess it's time for bed. We'll see what happens tomorrow, ne?

She put her diary away, switched the light off and went under the covers. She had a feeling she'd have a wonderful dream that night.

After leaving her room, Ranma had stopped on the roof again, to calm down (and to finish the cookies). He didn't want to think about it too much. He just kept replaying her voice when she had said 

"You know I'll always be here for you too, don't you?" 

And her expression when he had thanked her. Could she really not think of him only as a hentai baka, after all? She'd be there for him, as she often had in the past, when it was important. She cared for him…? He didn't dare let his hopes get to high, lest he would get too disappointed if she… He shoved the thought aside and tried to enjoy the night breeze for a moment. Somehow, in spite of all, he felt quite peaceful.

Eventually he got up and descended to his room, where a panda was already loudly snoring. He lay on his futon, his back down, his hands under his head, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the afternoon again despite himself. He growled.

'Why can't I get her out of my head? I can't sleep because of that kawaiikune tomboy again…' he sighed. He thought of how he almost made her pull her mallet out with that remark about who had made the cookies. Why did he always have to say the wrong thing? No doubt her cooking was dreadful but he didn't need to bring it out when everything was going so well. His mouth acted as if it was independent of his brains sometimes. He sighed again. 

He hated to make her angry. But even more he hated to make her sad. Somehow, that day, he had managed to make her smile. He would have spent every afternoon studying maths or anything else for that matter, just to have her near him, just to see her, smell her, feel her… 

"Man, I've got it bad…" he mumbled again, and slowly drifted to sleep. Akane's words returned in his dreams and he smiled fondly at her image.

In her own room, Akane dreamed of all the times Ranma had come after her and rescued her, of all the moments of tenderness between them, adding this afternoon to the list. She smiled in her sleep, pleased that the list was not that short, after all.


	3. Disappointment

Hi, it's finally me again, posting a new chapter to this story. I didn't get many reviews though… Hope you like it and please let me know so that I can find the strength and inspiration to go on with it. Thanks to all those who did review the first two chapters anyway.

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Studying – Chapter III

Surprisingly, Ranma did not sleep at school, the next day. Being quite happy about how his studying session with Akane had gone, he actually wanted to see if he had learned anything at all. 

He didn't have to wait long: his first class was Maths. He listened to the teacher intently, watched the symbols and numbers he was writing on the blackboard. He really listened very carefully. For once, all his concentration was on the lecture. 

After some minutes he gave up. He didn't have a clue as to what the teacher was doing. The symbols were somewhat familiar but they didn't make sense to him.

'But I worked really hard yesterday', he thought, 'and I actually solved some exercises by myself. Why is it that I don't have a clue about what the sensei is doing?'

He scratched his head with both hands, angry and disappointed. Then he looked at Akane, who was diligently following the teacher, actually seeming to **know** what he was talking about. He sighed. Maybe he was just not smart enough for Maths… 

As soon as that thought crept into his consciousness he pushed it aside. 

'What! Not smart enough? Me? Saotome Ranma? The one who can master any technique twice as fast as any other martial artist?' his ego protested. 

He still didn't feel too well about it though.

Just then Akane sensed him watching her and turned, catching his sullen expression. She had noticed he had been following the lesson for once and was very pleased about it.

'Finally,' she had been thinking, 'I won't have to listen to everybody complaining to **me** about his bad behaviour in class…'

Then she had returned her concentration to the teacher and forgotten about him. Almost.

Now she saw him watching her with that sad expression and she wondered what was wrong. He reluctantly turned his gaze to the blackboard again and sighed. Akane frowned. What was there to sigh about on the blackboard? Unless… 

'He doesn't understand this stuff and so he's sad?' she wondered. 'He actually cares about this?' She almost couldn't believe it, so she decided she'd ask him later, during the long break.

Ranma was feeling frustrated and angry at himself. Angry for being caught by Akane staring at her, angry for not understanding a word of the lecture even though he had tried really hard, angry to see that the next lecture wasn't any better, angry for actually **caring **about it at all... He was so upset he couldn't sleep even after he decided that he wouldn't try and follow the lessons any more.

Akane turned around occasionally and looked at him strangely. 'What?' he thought, making a face to her. Her eyes widened and she promptly turned away with a "Humph".

The break finally came and Ranma rushed out of the classroom, grabbing his bento. Akane followed him quickly, resolved to find out the reason for his odd behaviour. She caught him under a tree, alone.

"Hi, mind if I join you?" she asked with a small smile.

"Go ahead", he mumbled without looking up. 

"Well, if I'm disturbing you, I can go away. I'm sure Ukyo or Shampoo…" Akane started, instantly annoyed, but was interrupted.

"Jeez, Akane, sit down and don't make such a fuss", he stated briefly looking at her and then continued eating. Akane decided to let it pass and sat down, careful not to get too close to him. After all, she had questions, she didn't want to be distracted by... She quickly veered her thoughts away from that direction, unpacked her lunch and started eating. 

After a while, when Ranma had almost finished, she asked: "Ranma, why were you so upset in class today?"

"Uhmmm… nothing", he hesitated, his eyes on his almost empty bento.

"Come on, I saw you. You didn't even fall asleep once!" she teased.

"Well, can't a guy pay attention for once in a while?" he protested.

"Is it because you wanted to see if you could solve the exercises?" she asked quietly.

He looked at her strangely. 

"I … I thought I did ok yesterday. I mean, I did understand that stuff and I solved those damned exercises… But today…" he trailed off, angry at himself again.

"You didn't understand what the sensei was talking about, right?"

He raised his head defiantly. 

"Who needs Maths anyway. What good is it to Martial Arts?" he said angrily. She just shook her head.

"Ranma…"

"I tried," he interrupted. "I really tried, but it just no good, so why should I bother? I don't care about school anyway."

"So you give up," she stated plainly, her eyes fixed on his face.

He looked up, surprised. "What do you mean, give up? I never give up… if it's important!"

"But school **is** important. You don't want to spend the summer here, do you? We've talked about it already."

"Maybe I changed my mind. Maybe I'd rather be here alone then with a kawaiikune tomboy like you!"

There he was again. When he was confused or angry, or both, his best technique to end an argument was… an insult. 

Akane looked shocked. She stood motionless for a moment, then turned away.

"Fine then, see if I care!" she just screamed and rushed away to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. But she did not turn fast enough to hide her hurt expression from him. He looked at her retreating figure, feeling sorry, sorry to have hurt her, sorry for his failure… He sighed.

She was so angry at him! She could scream with fury. She wished she had some of her bricks to pulverise. Unfortunately she had three more classes that day and she would just have to wait till she got home to vent her anger. 

'He's such a jerk! There I was, worrying about him, and he just goes and insults me! And I actually thought he was being **nice** yesterday! Feh!' she fumed inside. She stomped into her class, sat at her desk and purposely avoided looking at him when he came inside.

'Man, she's mad…', Ranma thought, seeing how she avoided looking at him. He decided he would have to apologise, but he'd do it at home, so for the time being, he would just have to wait and avoid her if he didn't want to be malleted. Maybe she would calm down a little. Maybe.

He remembered her words from the previous evening.

'_You know I'll always be here for you too, don't you?_' she had said.

He had said something similar too.

Eyeing her tense shoulders, he sighed again.

Ranma was in his room, pondering what he should do. Should he go to Akane and apologise to her? Probably. Would she accept his apology? He doubted it. That was precisely why he was hesitating.

She had stomped home ignoring him completely, while he had walked on the fence as usually, occasionally stealing glances at her. At home she had rushed to her room, coming out only when Kasumi called everybody for lunch. She had avoided looking at him the whole time and he had done the same. Their parents had asked what had happened and both of them had answered "Nothing". Nabiki had sighed mumbling "As always", his father had started ranting about family honour and Mr Tendo had started crying. 

Now he was still trying to decide whether or not to go to his fiancée and apologise. He finally resigned to his fate, expecting to be pounded through the window, but wanting to try to make things right nonetheless.

Again, he chose the window, not the door, trying to avoid having the whole family eavesdropping on them. He saw her at her desk, writing something. Taking a deep breath, he knocked.

Akane knew he was there. She knew he would come, eventually. He always did. She had calmed down a little, and even managed to think things through a little. So when he knocked, she decided she wouldn't mallet him right away, she would ask what he wanted first.

"I…" he fidgeted, jumping into the room, his left hand on his pigtail. Seeing her frown at his indecisiveness, he forced himself to continue. "I wanted to apologise for insulting you at school."

"Oh yeah?" she said, raising an eyebrow. She wouldn't let him go off too easily. 

"Yeah, well, you know, I didn't really mean I'd rather study the whole summer here, alone, than be… with… you." He blushed, realising what he had said, and added hastily: "Not that I **want** to be with a t…" 

Akane interrupted him with a warning look: "Ranma, are you here to apologise or to insult me some more? Because I know you don't want to be with your uncute fiancée, you don't have to shove it into my face every single time!" She looked away, hanging her head to hide her eyes behind her bangs.

He was surprised. 'I don't have to…?'

"Akane, I… Look, I do want to apologise… I don't mean what I say, you know that. And I don't prefer being alone…" he couldn't go on, it would be admitting too much. He barely could admit it to himself. But he just couldn't let her believe that he'd prefer being alone rather than with her.

"Why are you always insulting me then?" she asked, looking at him again.

"I don't know," he blushed. "Habit, perhaps… I don't mean it though, well, mostly." He thought about her cooking. But seeing her frown again, he added: "I don't… want to hurt… you… you know it, don't you?" he repeated scratching the back of his head. 

"But you do," she said in a small voice.

"I'm sorry," he said again.

She sighed. She believed him.

"I'm sorry too," she said finally. "I know I have a temper…" she admitted, and for once Ranma only made a face, without opening his mouth, so Akane just smiled self-consciously instead of getting angry. 

They stood there, smiling at each other for a while, not really knowing what to do next. Ranma was feeling reluctant to leave, Akane was just enjoying the peace for once.

Eventually, she remembered why she had come to him at school and decided to check if she had guessed correctly.

"Ranma," she began slowly. He just looked at her.

"Are you really quitting the studying thing?"

"Huh?" he looked puzzled.

"Back at school", she explained, "you said studying was no good. Are you quitting or are you still going to study with me?" 

"You'd still do it?" he questioned, his voice full of surprise. "I mean, not that it helped any. Today I didn't get a word of what the sensei was talking about at Maths…" He was ashamed to admit it, but then he knew she already had figured it out.

"Yes, I'd still do it. It was nice yesterday, wasn't it?" she smiled, and then she continued in a more serious tone. 

"Look, you can't expect to pick up everything you've managed to sleep through in the last **year** - or maybe even **longer** – in just **one afternoon**. Even one of your easiest techniques took longer than that to learn, right?"

"Uhmmm… I suppose so…" he fidgeted.

"So it'll take some time till you can understand what the sensei is talking about, but eventually you will. Just like when you were learning the chestnut fist technique: at first you couldn't see how it was possible to do it, but then, after some time and practice, you learned it."

Akane hoped that comparing studying to martial arts training would make Ranma think about it in a different way. It seemed that she was succeeding: Ranma was thinking about it.

"You mean I should look at it like training? Just have to try until you get it?" he summarised his thoughts after a moment. 

She smiled and nodded.

"Exactly." 

"So are we going to practise now?" he asked, smiling himself.

"Sure, go and bring your books, I'll bring some lemonade and cookies, ok?" she offered.

"Ok, be right back!" he replied, jumping out of the window.

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A/N I know, I know, almost no waff in here. But there'll be lots in the next chapter, I promise. It' just that this story, as the others I put down, write themselves rather than having me writing them. I don't really know what is going to happen, not in detail anyway. So just bear with my muse and let's hope that next time it will be all waffy and fluffy… 

I will really appreciate any comments, even if you think there's no point in continuing this story. Thank you!!!

PS

I just edited the story and reposted it today (March 23rd 2003). A million thanks to **dogbertcarroll **who took the time to write down all the mistakes I made and send me a comment about them: you are incredibly nice to help me out without even being asked – I love you!


	4. Anything Goes Solving of Maths Exercises...

You won't believe it, right? Hehe… I'm updating the story even though I had said that I would finish the other one first (Of Loose Gi's and Lost Focuses, if you perhaps want to know). I guess I decided that I was being unfair to all the people that liked this story and asked me to continue it, so I changed my mind.

Oh, and sorry to all you America people reading me out there. As I have said I'm not English nor American, but I was taught the British version of English and you might find some British words in my stories. Like **Maths**, for example. Yes, it is a word, it simply is the British version to what you Americans would call Math. I checked a couple of dictionaries, so I'm positive about it. Deal with it. If there's anything else bothering you, though, I'd gladly hear about it. I accept criticism when I deserve it.

Ok, enough ranting, onto the story. And thanks again to all the people that read so far. Hope you'll like the rest of it too.

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Studying – Chapter 4

Akane returned to her room with the cookies Kasumi had baked earlier and some lemonade, as she had promised. She was smiling to herself, happy about how things had turned out.

After putting the tray down on her desk, she noticed she was still wearing her school uniform. She had been so angry at her fiancé when she had got home that she forgot to change. 

Remembering her own feelings of the day before, she wandered briefly if she should wear the same outfit again (or rather a similar one), but decided against it. Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn. She chose a simple knee-long yellow skirt and a T-shirt of the same shade. Not that he would notice the difference, she thought with a sigh.

Just when she finished dressing, a knock was heard at her door.

"Can I come in?" She heard Ranma's voice.

"Sure."

He entered the room glancing at her quickly, carrying his books and notebooks. He settled at her desk, in the same position he had assumed the day before. 

"Yellow is definitely more like you than the uniform", he said matter-of-factly, not even looking at her.

Akane blushed. He had noticed? Was he mocking her? She started to get angry, not knowing how to react any other way.

"Ranma!" she growled in a low threatening voice.

"What?" he said, looking up blankly.

Akane stared at him, trying to understand. Was he…? She finally decided to let it go.

"Never mind", she said, looking away. 

He shrugged, grabbed a cookie and asked: "So, what do we do today?"

'Whew, that was close', he thought.

She sat down on her chair, which was close to his, but not too close, and poured some lemonade in the green glasses. The ice cracked with little noises. She took a deep breath, calming herself.

"I guess the best thing would be to pick up from where we had stopped yesterday. Starting with Maths again. You can't do any good at Physics if you don't know a thing about Maths."

"Ok," he mumbled, munching the cookie. 

The first exercises were easy for Ranma, they were pretty similar to the ones he had managed to solve the day before. So he got bored.

"I already know this stuff. Why are we doing it again?" he protested after a couple of solved exercises.

"You know Ranma, for someone who is in Martial arts, you don't really understand that much about practise," Akane teased.

"What do you mean, practise? Of course I know…" He was interrupted by a smirking Akane.

"Even a beginner knows you have to do some warm up exercises before getting to the hard stuff," she pointed out.

"Oh yeah?" He blurted out sarcastically, but then he started thinking about it.

"So you are really treating this like some kind of Martial Arts training," he finally stated.

"It is, actually. You said so yourself yesterday. A new technique, you could call it The Anything Goes Solving of Maths Exercises," she laughed a her own stupid invention.

Ranma didn't laugh though. He thought about it seriously.

"How can it be Anything Goes? I mean, Maths is all rules, rules, rules, no creativity involved, no space to do the real Anything Goes…" 

Akane was surprised at the fact that he had taken her so seriously. Then again, she was glad, since it was the first time she saw him thinking about something connected with school seriously. She considered his words for a moment.

"That's not completely true. I mean, there are rules, of course, but there is also some freedom. As in Martial Arts, you often can choose your own path to the goal. In our case, the goal is to solve the exercise correctly."

"But I don't see any other way to do this exercise", he pointed to the one he had just finished, "than the one you explained to me yesterday. I mean, it's just some curve I have to draw, and it has to look exactly this way, you told me."

"Sure, but the way you find out how the curve should look may vary."

She proceeded explaining her logic to him. He listened attentively, and she enjoyed his attention, as well as the unusual peaceful sensation that was floating between them. She showed him an alternative way to come up with the same curve.

"I get it!" he exclaimed. "It's like when you want to hop on a roof, and you can jump on different objects to get to it!"

Akane smiled inwardly at his rather simple paragon, but agreed.

"Ok, now what?" he said, eager to learn something new. Akane smiled more broadly. She knew comparing studying to the Art would do the trick.

They went on with other exercises and she tried to explain what the sensei had been talking about at school. Ranma stared at her blankly.

"You see, the problem is", Akane finally said, "that you don't know anything about the principles on which this whole thing is based. So we'll have to go a step back."

Ranma sighed in frustration.

"But it'll take ages! And I have to improve my grades soon!"

"I know. Don't worry too much, you'll make it. You always can do what you set your mind on."

Ranma turned to look at her face, a bit surprised.

"Yeah, I do", he said out loud, and inside his head, he continued, 'but I didn't know you believed in me too".

Akane noticed the strange look on his face and turned away, blushing.

"What? Everybody knows that there's nothing the great Ranma can't do", she said, half mocking him.

"I.." he started, still looking at her strangely. "Well, yeah… but… I thought…" 

"That I didn't notice? What, with all the techniques you've learned since you've come to Nerima, and all the enemies you've beaten, and all the times you've saved me, you really think I could not notice?" She looked up.

"Oh, and by the way, thanks for all the times you've saved me. I guess I never said that."

Ranma would have face-faulted if we hadn't been to stunned to even move.

Akane knew she was probably as red as his Chinese shirt, but for once she didn't care.

After a long moment of the two staring into each other eyes in silence, Ranma finally found his voice (and his brain) again.

"Akane, … you don't have to… thank me…" he stuttered a little. "I'd never let anything happen to you. I told you yesterday, I'll always be here for you, and I meant it, no matter what I might say…"

Akane leaned a bit towards him, raised her hand and caressed his cheek, not really aware what she was doing. His skin felt warm under her cold fingers. Ranma instinctively caught her hand in his, holding it against his face. They stood there, motionless, lost in each other's eyes and in each own's thoughts, for the longest moment. In that moment they felt a strange force pulling their bodies towards each other, inch by inch. There was nothing in this world that existed for the two, except the other's eyes and her cold fingers between his palm and cheek.

Suddenly the mood changed. They didn't know what it was, whether a sound from the rest of the house or a bird outside Akane's open window. They just felt something break and they snapped apart, just a split second after realizing how close they had actually been.

Akane felt her face burning, her fingers tingling, remembering the sensation of his skin. Funny how she reacted so strongly to a simple touch as that one, when she had touched him a million times before. She stared pointedly at the desk, not saying a word, trying to calm herself. 

Ranma, on the other hand, wondered just what had really happened there. Actually, the little part of his mind that was still working, wondered about that. The rest was on vacation and not expected to return any time soon. Not knowing what else to do, the little part of his brain that had decided to stay around, suggested that he take a cookie and eat it. So he did. And another one. And another.

Akane's brain wasn't completely back either, so she copied the actions he was doing, munching the cookies in silence, and washing them down with the lemonade.

They could have gone on like that forever. If there had been enough cookies.

The last cookie lay alone on the plate when two hands reached for it at once. 

Fingers touched and sparks went up both arms. Ranma and Akane looked up simultaneously and blushed once again.

"You take it", they said in unison.

They stared at each other for a second.

"No, you do", they both said again.

Finally, the funny side of the situation kicked in with Akane's brain and she chuckled.

"Look, you take this one, and I'll go down to get some more. We deserve a break after all."

"Ok", Ranma said, not sure if he was more relieved or sorry to see her retreat towards the door with the plate in her hands.

What was that? What was happening with him? Just a touch and he was in turmoil. He somehow admitted to himself (well, not really, but sort of half admitted…) that he… cared…for that tomboy… But this… this burning feeling on his skin where she touched him... what was this?

How could those hands, those same hands that have hit him countless times before, bring up such emotions in him by just barely touching his fingers? His face?

He touched his cheek, remembering Akane's emotion-filled eyes after she had thanked him. They had been so close. They had almost… 

He blushed.

Nah, it couldn't possibly…

They'd never…

And he'd never want to… that tomboy…

Oh, yes he would. By kami, he would have loved to. 

Even the thought made his heart start racing again.

But what about her? 

He was sure he'd be flying through the roof to LEO the second after…

But she had seemed affected by the strange mood too. And **she** had caressed his cheek. And leaned against him. And…

Maybe there was hope yet.

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Oooohhhh, enough for today. I'm off to Prague tomorrow, for a couple of days. It's a lovely city, if you haven't seen it yet. Prague in the Czech Republic of course. And no, I'm not Czech. I just go there on a holiday. As if you care… But if you have the chance, do go there, it really is worth it. The golden city, it is called. Want to know why? ^_^

Anyway, this chapter might have some humorous bits here and there. Well, they seemed funny to me. And I didn't do it intentionally, I swear. I know the previous chapters weren't funny at all (if anyone disagrees, I'd appreciate if they told me…). But I couldn't do it any other way. So if you hate it, or if it's not funny at all, or if it made you wonder if I've gone insane*, just tell me. Thanks. Love you all!!!

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*No, I haven't . I've been insane all along. Kept the secret well, ne? ~_^


	5. Realization

This chapter is dedicated to **Daydreamlynnie** and to all those who prompted me to update Studying and are still willing to read on after all the time I let you wait for it. Forgive me and thanks for your patience!

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Studying – Chapter 5

Ranma was getting bored. What was taking her so long? She had been away for ages and he just didn't know what to do any more. The stupor for the 'strange' moment that passed between them (that's how he labelled it in his own head, unable – or unwilling to define it in a better way) had long gone and now he had been doodling in his notebook for quite some time waiting for her to get back. 

'Maybe she's helping Kasumi with something', he thought, cringing at the thought of Akane in the kitchen. 

No matter how he liked her, even more than that, he couldn't ignore the fact that she really couldn't cook. Knowing that she did it mostly to impress him did soothe his mind a little, but his stomach still didn't like it a bit.

'Oh well, maybe I should just go on with the exercises by myself', he decided finally and concentrated on the book.

Downstairs, Akane had discovered there weren't any cookies left, but since Kasumi was already baking a fresh batch, she decided to wait for them. At least it would give her time to regain control of herself. The effect that boy had on her senses was unbelievable. 

Kasumi, being the wise older sister she was, more or less guessed what was going on (her little sister's red cheeks and trembling hands did say a lot) and decided not to interfere. She chatted with Akane lightly while they waited for the cookies and then, when they were ready, handed them with a smile.

"Here, have fun you two. I'll make sure no-one disturbs you."

Akane stared at her. So that's why they have been left alone the past few days! She smiled, thanking her sister and rushed upstairs. 

When she opened the door to her room, she found Ranma completely absorbed in his studying, even to the point of not noticing her coming back. A mischievous smile flashed on her lips.

She quietly closed the door and walked to the desk. Grabbing a warm cookie from the plate, she held it in front of his nose, glad she caught him with his guard down.

His reaction was a bit stronger than she had expected though.

He almost screamed in surprise, pushing the chair back and making Akane, who was standing close behind him, lose balance. 

She felt the plate slip off her hand as she tried to grab on something to avoid falling. Her hands did find something to grab and after a moment, when she finally realized she wasn't going to fall, she found out it was Ranma's shirt she was holding onto. She also realized Ranma's arms were around her keeping her from tumbling to the floor.

His heart was thumping hard, she could feel it beneath her hands. But so was hers, and he could probably feel it too, since he was practically still holding her. Time seemed to have slowed down considerably.

The position they were in was odd, though: she was still half leaning backwards, on the verge of falling, the only thing preventing her from tumbling down were his strong arms. 

Ranma's brain had shut down for the time being and he was going merely on instinct. Protecting Akane was one of the stronger ones in him, so he just pulled her to himself, turning her a bit in the process, making her sit in his lap. Now he was really holding her. Close. And now she was also safe, so his instincts could shut themselves down and his brain could come back. 

The instant his consciousness was back, Ranma realized he had his fiancée in his arms, on his lap, her arms pressed to his chest, his own arms around the small of her back. The first coherent sentence that formed into his mind was:

'Wow, this feels great!'

The second one was of course:

'Oh, no, she'll kill me for being a pervert again!'

So he started backing slowly, getting ready for the blow he was sure was about to come.

'And it wasn't even my fault', he babbled inside his frightened mind, 'she's the one who startled me like that… and then… she tripped and almost fell and… Uhmmm… Hey, how come I'm still in this room?' he wondered at last, since by then he would have usually been half his way to the other part of Nerima. 

He finally dared to look at her face. Not into her eyes, but to her chin, lips, nose, cheeks… She seemed so relaxed, so not ready to strike him that he found the courage to look into her eyes.

They seemed glazed over a bit, somehow lost, as if she wasn't really aware where she was yet. Or maybe she was.

He felt one of her hands stir slightly on his chest. 

O-oh. Now he was in for it. He closed his eyes, expecting the slap.

Instead of the stinging pain, he felt soft fingers brushing his cheek and opened his eyes in surprise. She was staring at him now.

Her other hand also let go of his shirt as she pressed it to his heart.

"Thanks," she breathed.

Then she got up slowly, almost forgetting to remove her fingers from his cheek, just as much as he almost forgot to remove his hands from her back. And since she was too far from him, his hands rested on her waist, his eyes glued to hers.

He didn't know what to say. What to do. So he just waited and enjoyed the feeling. Unconsciously he leaned his head against her palm, rubbing it lightly. 

She smiled. 

He melted.

Then she slowly let go of him and turned to pick up the plate and the cookies, spread all over the floor. In a corner of her mind she found herself thinking: 'Thank god it wasn't a china plate', the smile still lingering on her face and in her thoughts.

What was going on, Ranma wondered, as he finally was able to shake off the funny feeling and get up to help her with the cookies.

"Sorry it took me so long", Akane said when almost all the cookies had been picked up. "Kasumi was just baking these and there weren't any others left so I just waited for the fresh ones."

"Uhm, no problem", Ranma mumbled, still wondering what was happening and why was he still in the room and not somewhere in a canal or a pond or anything wet in Nerima.

"And sorry about the scare I gave you, too, I didn't mean to", she turned around, still smiling. Ranma's stomach flipped.

"It's … it's ok, I guess", he said after a long pause. And then he added: 

"Uhmmm, Akane?"

"Yes?"

"What… I mean… why aren't you yelling Pervert at me and throwing me out of the window?" 

Did he really ask that? Ranma would have kicked himself in the head. He got lucky for once, she didn't get mad for a reason, and now he had to remind her of it? So that she could get angry now instead of earlier?

Did he really ask that? He had expected her to pound him through the window? Was she really that… She sighed, seeing him take a step back, waiting for her anger to explode.

She took a deep breath and sighed again.

"I just realized something, that's why."

"Oh", he said, not understanding at all.

He waited for her to go on, and when he realized she wasn't going to say anything else, he dared ask again.

"And that is?"

"Can't tell."

"Why not?" His curiosity was aroused now.

"Just can't." She was smiling again.

"Come on, tell me!" he pleaded.

"No, really, I can't." she giggled, blushing a little, hoping he wouldn't notice.

He did notice. 

"Please, tell me! Come on!"

She sighed, looking away. She noticed his books and notebooks on her desk. A sparkle lit up in her eyes.

"You know what, I'll tell you when you manage to get at least a 90% at physics."

"What! It's not fair, I'll never get a 90% at physics!" he complained.

"Well, then you'll never know."

"Oh, Akane, come on, tell me!" he tried again.

"I promise I will. When you get that 90%."

Ranma humpfed and looked away from her smiling face. What was that all about? And why was she acting so weird all of a sudden? Get that mark on a physics test when he couldn't even get a 60? Impossible! It was so unfair!

"I'll even help you get it, just as I promised", he heard her say.

"You're serious about this?" he asked surprised. She really believed that he had a chance at getting that mark?

"Yes, sure, I told you. Nothing can stop you when you set your mind to it. Now you just have another reason to do so." She smiled again. That smile stirred something inside him. It wasn't just her usual smile, and the usual one was far more than enough to make him feel like an ice-cream cone in a hot summer day. There was something more in her smile right now, something he couldn't put a finger on but was really eager to discover. She said he had to get a 90%? By god he would. And the sooner the better.

His resolve made, he gazed at her and smiled confidently.

"Ok, then. Let's get back to studying."

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So how is this for Chapter 5. I think I've got the plot cleared up in my head now, so the next chapters should follow more regularly. Hope you liked it. I know the mood is a bit different, I hope you don't mind.

Comments, questions and suggestions welcome. Please review. 


	6. He did it!

Yeah, I know, it's been forever since I updated any of my stories and I feel awful about it enough myself, so please, spare me. Anyway, the stories, neither this one nor the other one, are NOT dead, you just have to be patient with me, as always. Gomen ne.

I hope some of you are still reading and enjoying it. ^_^ You might be happy to hear that the story is almost finished. There should be one more chapter, apart form this one. Is that good or bad news? Oh well, here goes the new chapter.

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Studying – Chapter 6

In the next few days, he worked hard. Really hard. He stayed up at school – Akane had threatened not to help him any more if he'd fall asleep ('Stupid tomboy', he mumbled to himself, not really meaning it of course, while trying hard to understand the lessons) – and he studied with her in the afternoons. 

After a third degree from Ukyo and Shampoo during lunch at school a couple of days after the 'challenge', he found out that Kasumi was keeping away any intruders so that he and Akane could work in peace. He managed to avoid most of the girls' questions by running off like the wind. 

While he was running home the long way (just in case someone was still on his tail), he thought of Kasumi. Maybe he should thank her, he decided entering the house. She was in the dining-room, setting the table.

"Uhmmm, Kasumi…" he said sheepishly, his hand scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, Ranma?", Kasumi looked up and smiled.

"I just…" he fiddled, looking at the floor, "…thanks."

Kasumi looked mildly surprised for a split second, but then she smiled sweetly.

"You're welcome."

He smiled at her and ran upstairs.

"Ok, now try this one," Akane said pointing at yet another exercise.

Ranma just read the instructions without saying a word. He was so concentrated that he hardly noticed Akane staring strangely at him.

'Five days,' Akane was thinking, almost disbelieving. 'Less than a week and he's…'

"Here. What do you say?", he interrupted her thoughts.

"What? You're done already?" she asked, in awe.

"Uhm, yeah, it was easy," he looked up at her, noticing her strange expression. "Did I get it wrong?"

"Uhmmm…" she mumbled, hardly managing to avert her eyes from him and looking down at the notebook. She struggled to concentrate on what he had written. "No, it's ok. You did everything right."

"Good. So what's next?" he smiled, eager pride shining in his eyes. 

She looked up again. He was amazing. Did he really know what he was doing, Akane wondered. Just like that, in a couple of afternoons, he had done it again. 

"Akane?"

"Huh?"

"Is everything ok? You look strange." He moved his face closer to her to see her better.

She snapped out of her amazement in time to see his face a couple of inches from her own.

"Akane?", he repeated.

She grinned and suddenly she moved her arms to hug him fiercely.

"You did it! You really did it!", she yelled, too happy to stay calm.

Ranma was stunned to say the least. She was hugging him. She was **hugging **him. His brain slowed down again, and this time even his body was numbed by her actions. She was holding **him**. And his arms, instead of hugging her back, were just dangling against his body, pressed down by the force of her embrace. In spite of the smell of her hair, he tried to remain coherent, not letting his brain shut down completely. Something about her words was nagging at him. What was she yelling again? He did it? Did what?

"Oh, Ranma, I'm so proud of you!", she went on, too happy to notice his surprise and lack of co-operation. 

He did it…? What was she talking about? They had been looking at his exercise and…

Something clicked in his brain. He … did it? **He did it!**

"You mean I…?", he asked cautiously, not wanting to be disappointed if he was being wrong. Did he really…?

"Yes! You solved them all. You caught up with everything! You can do it now!" 

She was still holding him and almost shouting her happiness directly in his ears. 

Her voice complimenting him, her hands around his body, her closeness, her scent, her warmth and her joy overwhelmed him. Overwhelmed all his barriers and slid into him like an avalanche. He couldn't hold still any more. He had to do something. He had to…

Moving his arms around her, he stood up, pulling her up with him. Her hands slid to his neck as he held her tighter. 

"Yesssss!" He grinned wildly, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around the room like a child. Her short skirt was flying around her legs, her hands tightly clasped around his neck, her head buried in his hair, soft giggles coming out of her mouth near Ranma's ear. 

He held her tight, careful not to make her legs bump into something, basking in her laugher and her scent and her happiness, grinning and repeating "Yes!" on and on. She just held on, giggling.

After a while, he slowly came to a stop. Her feet were on the ground again but neither of them let go of the other; smiles still hung on their faces as Akane lifted her head just enough to look in his eyes.

"Congratulations," she said quietly.

His smile widened.

For a brief moment, he got lost in the memories of the previous days. Nothing had really happened between them but… In a way, everything was different now. The peaceful moments spent together (courtesy of Kasumi's inflexible smile of denial to anyone who tried to disturb them), the occasional glances, the casual contacts of their elbows, or her fingers on his hands, or her body leaning on his while she was trying to show him something difficult… Everything had somehow become so natural, so… expected.

Her smiles had been much more frequent than usually, and her mallet had never appeared during those hot afternoons. Her encouraging words had kept him going when he got stuck. And Kasumi's cookies had eased up their minds whenever the atmosphere became too overwhelming… 

That tingling sensation on his skin wherever she touched him had come and gone so often that he had almost got used to it. Now he didn't know if he could live without it. 

His eyes focussed back on her features. 

"Thanks", he said, a soft look in his eyes. One that she still hadn't quite got used to. One that made her insides feel like a field of butterflies. She felt his arms tighten around her for a moment as he moved his head forward and rubbed his cheek to her hair. 

Maybe it was the muffled sound of a giant panda's yawn, or maybe the soft steps in the hall outside Akane's room. Their moment of tenderness was suddenly over and their guards back up. Almost. 

When he pulled back again, the mood had changed once again. He felt their muscles tense at the same time. 

He looked at her and noticed her pink cheeks and shy eyes. He was sure his face was burning too. He released her and she untangled her arms from his neck, but she didn't move away. For a brief moment he wondered if she would pull out her mallet. Surprisingly, though, she didn't look mad, she was just… He couldn't quite put a finger on it, yet he somehow knew she must feel the same way as he did. Mostly confused. Happy, but confused. And other things he didn't really want to think about right then, too.

Feeling awfully awkward and embarrassed, he thought of something to say. What had they done when they had felt like this in the past days?

"Uhmmm… Do you want to go and get some cookies?" he asked, not looking at her.

She looked up, puzzled. 

Then realisation dawned and she smiled.

"Sure."

She gladly turned away from him and went out of the room.

Now that he was alone, he stretched a little, stiff from the hours spent sitting on a chair instead of training. He tried to think of something else than Akane to clear his fogged mind. His body was still tingling all over from the contact with hers. His ears were still filled up with her giggles…

'Better not think about that any more', he thought feeling fuzzy and light-headed. What could he think about instead. Let's see… Training. Yeah, training was good.

He made a face at the thought of his father yelling at him that morning that he was becoming slack and should train more. Well, after the damn physics test was over, he would go back to his old routine and everything would be back to normal and he would show him… 

The old routine. Did he really have to go back to his old ways with Akane? Would they both just forget about the intimate feeling that had grown between them in those last days? His shoulders slumped, he sat back on the chair at the desk.

The test was in a few days. Akane said he had caught up. A little more practice and he would be able to get that 90% she had challenged him to get. And then? 

Then she would have to tell him what she had promised. He wondered what she was going to tell him. The expression in her eyes, as she said she had just figured something, came back to his mind. What was it that she had figured out? Would he like it? Would she really tell him the truth? She had to! She had promised!

He was starting to get really frustrated when the door opened and Akane came in smiling with the cookies.

He smiled and grabbed one.

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So this was the one but last chapter. Expect the next one really soon, because I'll just go and write it right now. ~_~

Thanks for reading and if you want me to know what you think about this, hit the button and review.

Ja ne!


	7. Results of a challenge

Well, folks, here's the last chapter to Studying. I really tried not to make you wait too long, but… I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I hope you'll still enjoy it. More notes at the end. Now on with it.

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****

Studying – Chapter 7

The day of the test was here. And Ranma was as tense as he would get before a hard battle. He was sitting at his school desk, waiting for the teacher to deliver the copies of the test. A quick glance at Akane reassured him, as she was looking back at him, smiling and making a victory sign.

He thought of all the exercises he had solved while studying. Some of them were easy, others tough. Some he barely managed to solve. Would he be able to…?

He scowled at him self and straightened his back. He was Ranma. He wasn't afraid of anything, much less of a stupid test. He would get all the answers right and then he'd make Akane tell him her secret. Wouldn't he?

The sheets were suddenly in front of him. He took a deep breath, grabbed his pen and started to read the instructions.

Later that same day, in the afternoon, after all the classes were over, the students were eagerly expecting the results of the Physics test at the notice board. Since it was the final test and the end of the year was in a few days, the teacher had promised to give the results as soon as he could and hang them on the notice board for all to see.

Akane was chatting with her friends, stealing occasional glances at her fiancé as he was lounging on a bench nearby. 

Finally, a secretary came bringing the results. All Ranma and Akane's classmates gathered up behind her, trying to peek. Ranma was in the front row. Akane was too far to actually see anything. 

He was so nervous that his vision was blurred and for moment, he was unable to make out anything. He shook his head to clear his head and looked again. Knowing the teacher would always put the names in the order of the points achieved, he started at the lowest numbers, as always. He was somewhat surprised that his name wasn't there, at the bottom, but as he got higher he reminded himself that this time he was actually prepared for the test. 

Fifty percent, fifty-three, fifty-seven, sixty… 

His eyes went up slowly, he didn't want to miss his own name and – though he would never admit it – he was a little scared of the result.

Sixty-four, seventy, seventy-two…

"Hey Ranma! Congratulations!" a male voice said behind his back.

He pealed his eyes off the notice board and turned around, surprised.

"What?"

Daisuke grinned. "That's the best score I've ever seen with your name attached to it. How did you manage to cheat? The sensei is always so vigilant!"

Ranma glared. "I didn't cheat! I actually studied!"

"Really? How so?" Like everybody else Daisuke knew Ranma never studied so he hardly believed his friend. Yet he knew better than to argue with a nervous Ranma…

"It was a challenge," Ranma muttered almost unintelligibly, turning back at the notice board. He hadn't found out his score yet after all. And the congratulations meant nothing, considering his usual grades…

So his eyes went up again, ever so slowly, spelling out the name next to the number in his mind.

Seventy-five, seventy-nine, eighty-one…

'Hey, I might have actually done it!' he thought excitedly. 'It's over eighty already… Just a little bit more…'

Akane was watching him from the side. She wasn't worried about her results, she knew she had done well enough to keep up her average grade. But Ranma… She wanted to see his expression, to know how he did the moment he found out. She was almost as excited as himself.

She saw his eyes travel slowly upwards, she sensed his excitement, his growing joy as the points got higher and his name hadn't appeared yet. Then, finally, his eyes stopped, his expression froze.

"Oh, come on Akane, it's not fair!" 

"It is too."

Ranma was walking back home beside a smiling Akane. 

"But why wouldn't you tell me? I studied so hard and did everything you wanted!" he whined, walking in front of her and making her stop.

"I know you did. And I'm very proud of you," she smiled sweetly – too sweetly – looking at him. Then she moved to the right and walked past him.

"Then again, you didn't win our challenge, did you?" she said with her way-too-sweet-to-be-genuine voice. Ranma stared at her back, words failing him for a moment. He watched her walk away but snapped back to reality when she started humming some song.

He ran to catch up, yelling: "Of course I did! I mean, a 89.5! Point five! The sensei never gives a point five! Practically it's a ninety. You have to tell me!"

Akane just walked on, grinning.

"An almost win is not a win, and you know it," she replied after a while, glancing at his pleading face. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"Yes you do! I practically did it! It's just a half point. Come on, Akane, you have to!" 

He was walking close to her, staring at her face, trying to use his presence as well as his voice to convince her. 

"A half point is a half point and it makes you lose the fight." Saying so, Akane noticed his expression getting darker. She didn't really want to fight so she quickly added, "Still you did really great. I knew you would if you just studied a little…"

He interrupted her.

"A little? You call that a **little**?" His voice was angry and filled with frustration. "I spent **days** studying for that stupid test, and it was hard work, it was anything but 'a little'!"

"I know, I was there too." Akane said quietly, but Ranma didn't notice her strange tone.

"Yes, you were, so you know I did everything you wanted, did those stupid exercised, read that stupid theory book, skipped my training and everything and sat in that room day after day…" 

She interrupted him this time.

"Was it that awful?" 

Her voice was way too emotional for him not to notice this time. He looked at her – really looked this time – and noticed the signs of a coming fight, the typical results of his foot-in-mouth technique. He shut his mouth, surprised. What had he said to make her react this way? She had been smiling a moment before and now… What had he said?

"Was it so bad to spend some time with me?" she added, seeing his uncomprehending expression. She kept her gaze in his for another second, then she turned away and continued walking sullenly toward home.

Again, he was left behind, standing in the middle of the desert street. His eyes blank, his head low, he tried to figure out what had happened.

He thought again about Akane's last words. '_… spend some time with me?_' Bad, spending time with her? Spending **time** with her? Was that what they'd been doing? Studying and spending time together? 

"I guess she's right," he mumbled. Understanding finally dawned and her ran after her. Reaching her, though, he noticed they were already close to the dojo entrance and too many ears were bound to hear their discussion if he started it, so he decided to give up for the time being.

Akane looked up when she heard him approach. Their eyes met and she searched him for an answer. He kept quiet but something in his eyes made Akane shake her head, sigh and go on, if a little less sullenly.

"So how is your preparation for the test going, Ranma?" Kasumi asked at lunch.

Akane opened her mouth to compliment him on his success, but Ranma bumped her with his knee under the table and answered himself.

"Ok, I guess, we should see soon enough."

Akane stared at him in disbelief but stayed quiet. 'Ranma isn't going to show off with his good mark? I can't believe it. Why would he…?'

"We'll need a few more days of studying though," Ranma added looking down at his food, his cheeks slightly red. Akane's chopsticks fell to the floor.

"Oh, I see," Kasumi smiled. "I'll make sure no-one disturbs you."

"This is not good, boy," Genma protested, trying to steal food from his son. "You're missing too much training. What good will school do to you anyway…"

"Now, now, Genma, I wouldn't want one of my daughters to marry an illiterate, would I?" Soun interrupted him. "And besides, it seems to me that Ranma is in great shape." 

He gestured to his friend's plate which was completely empty, while Ranma was stuffing the last of its contents into his mouth.

"Hey! You ungrateful…" Genma started to get up to give his son a good beating when Kasumi's voice stopped him.

"Please Genma-san, there is plenty of food left for you, don't ruin our meal." The combination of her slightly less sweet than usual voice and her virtually unnoticeable frown made him change his mind and he sat back glaring at Ranma, who was calmly ignoring him.

Akane's chopstick were still on the floor, her expression numb.

A while later, Akane was sitting at her desk, nervously waiting for her door to open and Ranma to come in.

What did he have in mind? Why had he lied? Did he just want to …?

Her twirling thoughts were finally interrupted by a knock.

"Come in."

Ranma's black hair came into view, then his face and his shoulders, as he peeked inside.

"May I come in?" he asked, unable to meet her gaze.

"Sure," she smiled hesitantly.

He stepped in, closed the door carefully and walked to her desk where a chair was already waiting for him.

"So…" he said

"So…" Akane answered.

"Why did you let me come here again?" he asked.

"Why did you lie to them?" she countered.

He blushed and looked through the window. After a moment, he answered feeling extremely awkward and self-conscious.

"Because… it's not that bad…"

Akane was puzzled.

"What?"

Ranma fidgeted nervously, his right hand on his pigtail. 

"… being here… studying… with you…"

Akane looked up, her cheeks getting warmer.

"It's not?"

"No. I was just… you know, angry for not winning the challenge… but… you know me, I never lose, and if I do, I practise till I get it right." His expression got more confident as he went on and at the end he was grinning, staring at her daring her to say otherwise.

Akane's expression softened, a smile spreading slowly on her lips.

"Yeah, you're right. You never give up."

"Right," he said, finally finding the courage to sit next to her. "And I'm even more stubborn when it comes to you."

Akane looked at him strangely, watching him realize what he had just said, expecting the usual excuses and insults that would follow any similar statement he made.

They never came. He just looked at her sheepishly from under his bangs, waiting for her reaction.

'Well, if he can say it, so can I', she thought.

"I guess the feeling is mutual then."

His cheeks were redder than his shirt, but for once he didn't care. Their eyes stayed glued to each others for a long, long time. Finally, Akane got up.

"I guess I should get some cookies."

Ranma smiled as he watched her leave the room.

"I still think you ought to tell me. Eighty-nine point five! Come on!" he tried one last time, a soft smile still plastered all over his face.

She reached for the door-knob, opened the door, almost got out of the room, then turned around with a mischievous grin.

"Eighty-nine point five is the exact percentage of my answer that you just got. You'll have to do better to get the rest." And she closed the door.

Ranma's smile grew wider.

"You bet I will!" he said to the empty room.

THE END

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This time it really is over, no more waiting, no more chapters. I apologise again for not posting this chapter sooner but things got too complicated after I finished the last one and I physically couldn't do it. Same excuses, you'll say, I guess. Still I hope the story was nice enough to read to make you forget at least part of the frustration I caused.

To be honest, I had a little trouble with the ending, I wasn't too sure where to go, so I had to wait for the story to decide for itself. Now it did. What do you think? I'd appreciate feedback, even if it's just to say that I don't deserve readers because I make them hang on for so long…

Oh, and if you're interested, I'll get to continuing "Of Loose Gi's…" as soon as I can. Don't lose hope, I'm still alive and well… Ok, not that well… But still…

Thanks again and love you all,

butterfly


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